Before and after COVID-19:
The role of cardiometabolic factors
Nobody is immune to the coronavirus. But it is increasingly clear that the virus does not affect all humans alike: the effects of it depend on what we “bring to the table”. The state of our health when we first come into contact with the virus is a determining factor for what will come next — e.g. need for hospitalization and patient’s outcome in response to treatment or despite it. People infected with the coronavirus sometimes have poor outcomes for reasons that are still unexplained. They either have severe underlying conditions, were misled by initial flu-like symptoms, or they have uncontrolled cardiometabolic disorders that impair their ability to fight the infection.
In the US, a recently published survey including more than 900 thousand adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 showed that in more than 60% of cases, the root causes of the poor outcomes were conditions such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, either alone or in combination. When combined, the aggravating effect of these cardiometabolic risk factors was even more pronounced. The good news is that all three of these conditions are amenable to correction and their consequences, which include the impairment of the heart function (known as cardiac failure), can be prevented or kept under control with relatively simple preventive measures. These measures, by the way, have always been and will always be important — before, during and after the pandemic.
In addition to the numerous strategies to contain the pandemic, which are necessary and welcome, we must not forget to maintain our overall health status. People should not let the focus of attention in the pandemic lead them to forget basic measures such as constant physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and monitoring pre-existing diseases. It goes without saying: conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, if left uncontrolled, can have a very negative impact on the outcome of the COVID-19 disease; therefore, monitoring these conditions is now more important than ever.
The adoption of a healthy lifestyle is known to improve overall cardiometabolic health, and now we see that it can also potentially reduce the risk of COVID-19 related hospitalization.
Listen to what the experts say
Improving even slightly our level of physical activity and adopting a healthier diet are simple measures, that in just a few weeks, can help control hypertension and diabetes. Mitigating these cardiometabolic disorders can be of great value to many of us, even more so in the face of COVID-19.
We could speculate that less hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 would have happened if these risk factors had been originally controlled, by:
- Maintaining a healthy weight or fighting obesity
- A daily routine of physical activity (a 30-minute walk is already good); and
- A generally healthier lifestyle, including a better diet.
These measures can have a positive impact on any infectious disease outcome. Seeking guidance from your doctor is essential, especially if you suffer from hypertension, diabetes or if your heart function is less than optimal.
The coronavirus was a phenomenon predicted by science (although this is the subject for another time), yet it took us by surprise. We need to use the best weapons we know, our own body, and our own health, to fight it and other threats that are sure to come.
References:
- O’Hearn, Meghan, et al. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis.” Journal of the American Heart Association 2021; 10(5): e019259.
- Li, Bo, et al. “Prevalence and impact of cardiovascular metabolic diseases on COVID-19 in China.” Clinical Research in Cardiology 2020; 109 (5): 531–538.
- Mozaffarian, Dariush, et al. “Interventions to Promote Physical Activity and Dietary Lifestyle Changes for Cardiovascular Risk Factor Reduction in Adults.” Circulation 122 (2010): 406–441.
